In my opinion, it is the responsibility of the entrepreneur to give back. To be generous. But, there in lies the crux. When you are generous, it opens you up to be taken advantage of. Let me tell you about a recent experience. The two types of charities that are near and dear to me are ones that are focused on children and our veterans. The two charities I picked in each of those categories are St. Jude’s and the USO.

I set up an automatic monthly payment to St. Jude’s and it has worked well. However, I mailed in my donation for the USO. After doing so, I received another veteran related donation request. It is hard for me to say to no our veterans. So, I sent them a donation as well. This went against my own rule of, “pick your charity and stay with it.” And now, guess what? I have 4 envelopes on my desk from different veteran’s charities all asking me for donations. As you can see, somewhere along the way, the veteran related charities were notified that I donate to veteran related organizations.

I am beginning to feel like I am being taken advantage of and that is a shame. It feels good to donate freely. Especially to causes you believe in. And it just ruins the whole philanthropic experience to be approached by everyone under the sun for donations. Although I am speaking of monetary donations, other types can and are taken advantage of: time, labor, items, etc.

So, here I set with 4 envelopes on my desk. All to worthy causes. All causing me to feel obligated rather than charitable. I was in this same predicament in 2002. I had a technology company that was barely a year old. (That company was acquired by NorthStar Global, Inc. in 2007). I sat at my desk with piles of donation requests from many different worthy charities. That day I made a decision to pick my charity or charities and stick with them. That rule has helped me until I broke my own rule this summer.

This time is different. I am putting it out there in black and white for all to see and be held accountable. I am picking my charities and sticking with them. I researched my charities on CharityNavigator.org to determine who will receive the benefits of my philanthropy. When picking a charity, pay close attention to program, administrative, and fundraising expenses. Program expenses are what the charity is actually doing for the person, persons, or group for which they are supposed to help. If a charity spends 75% on their program expenses, that means 3/4 of each dollar you donate actually goes towards the mission of the charity. Administrative expenses are typically the salaries of the paid workers, to include the paper, pens, etc. And fundraising expenses are those expenses spent to generate more donations.

After completing my research, I am sticking with St. Jude’s. They spend 76.4% on program expenses, 7.5% on administrative expenses, and 16% on fundraising. My veteran related charity is now the Veterans of Foreign Wars Foundation. They spend 93.4% of their funds on program expenses, 2.7% on administrative expenses, and 3.8% on fundraising expenses. The VFW Foundation truly funnels most of their donations to those they are trying to help.

There are many worthy causes and I do not mean to discount any of them. We are all different with different motivations. We should all pick at least one charity that we believe in and give back. Remember, if you do not have money to give, donate your time. If you make $20 per hour and you volunteer 5 hours a month, you just donated the equivalent of $100. Many charities are in need of tangible items.  Before you garage sale that stuff you don’t use, check with your charity and see if they could use it. Something you will get a nickel out of at a garage sale (and complain about how much you paid for it when you got it) may do many dollars worth of good with your charity and uplift your heart and spirit in the process.

Just remember, research your charities first. Always make sure they are legitimate and that they spend a bulk of their money on program expenses. After you research and pick your charity or charities, stick with them. If you self impose the limit, other charities will understand and you will not feel obligated instead of charitable when giving. It is good to give to a cause you believe in. It is great when you genuinely feel good in the process. Give for generosity’s sake and not for tax deductions alone. You will be repaid many times over for genuine generosity. Not to mention, you will be a much happier person when you give…knowing that you are helping others and making a difference. Because that is what we entrepreneurs do.

Please feel free to comment and leave me feedback on the charities that you believe are worth while and are near and dear to you.